Wednesday, June, 29, 2016 Tony Caruso and C.C. Burnikel

Title: YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND

Today we have the pleasure of seeing our Grand Dame C.C. collaborate with yet another member of our puzzling community - Tony Caruso, better known here as Anon-T. The result is a very enjoyable Wednesday exercise. This puzzle is the fourth puzzle in a row that I have blogged where showing the grid first better reveals the clever gimmick - (PTA MEETING, WACKY WORDY and WHITE CAP). Tony and C.C. employed an equally clever device, as you can see, where they have inserted the word STEP in a upward orientation in four vertical phrases which yields the REVEAL

66. Rise to the challenge ... and a hint to a hidden word in 5-, 10-, 25- and 28-Down : STEP UP

Two years ago an EF-4 tornado decimated the small town of Pilger, Nebraska and took the life of a golfing buddy of mine. Fifty Husker athletes from all sports did STEP UP, boarded a bus and helped get the town on the road to recovery. Here you see them carrying veteran's flags they recovered from the collapsed city hall building to the delight of the entire town.

Theme Fills:

5. Armstrong improvisation : TRUMPET SOLO

10. Stop on a redecorating spree : CARPET STORE - a rather famous CARPET

25. King novel set in a graveyard : PET SEMATARY - Kids in the novel misspelled the name

28. Nominally sovereign country : PUPPET STATE - The Russians came and stayed for decades

After having risen to the challenge of Tony and C.C.'s puzzle, let's examine the rest of the fill:

Across

1. Sharp as a tack : SMART

6. Fave texting pals : BFFS - So ubiquitous now, it needs no explanation 

10. "2 Broke Girls" network : CBS - I tried it for 15 minutes and couldn't discern one scintilla of wit over and above their string of double entendres, sex jokes and sarcasm

13. Chain known for fresh-baked bread : PANERA - Their Frontega Chicken Panini!

15. Count (on) : RELY - They, of course, will STEP UP for you

16. "Blessed __ the meek ... " : ARE - Blessed but sometimes taken advantage of

17. Imaginative : ARTFUL

18. Lacking scents : ODOR FREE - Now about your breath...

20. "My parents are gonna kill me!" : I' M TOAST

22. Page with views : OP-ED

23. Cough syrup meas. : TSP

26. Cowpoke's pal : PARD

27. Like the Flash : SPEEDY

29. Tennis period since 1968 : OPEN ERA - For both pros and amatuers 

31. Legendary soul seller : FAUST - We baseball/broadway fans well remember the show where Joe Boyd sold his soul to 36. Buyer of 31-Across' soul : SATAN for one great season as a Washington Senator ballplayer

32. Tag line? : NOT IT - NOT IT! Are so! Am not! Are so!...

33. Woodworking device : CLAMP

35. Fryolator sound : SSS

38. Central parts : GISTS

39. High ball : LOB - Roger Federer returns a LOB with a between-the-leg shot that smacks his opponent in the back.

40. Piece of a pansy : PETAL

42. Pub pint : ALE

43. More than a little plump : OBESE

45. Put a little extra into the part : EMOTE - Exhibit A

46. MapMyWalk statistic : MILES

48. Dilapidated place : RAT TRAP in the 12. Far from posh : SEEDY part of town

50. Vegetable container : PEAPOD - Lots of work to hand-shell a bowl full 

52. See 31-Down : EGGS and 31. With 52-Across, jeweled creations made for Russian czars : FABERGE

53. Tolkien creature : ENT

54. Viola's clef : ALTO

55. Italian relative of grits : POLENTA - Spicy rainbow chard with bacon and POLENTA

58. Hard-to-pass drivers : ROAD HOGS

60. Catwoman portrayer Kitt : EARTHA - Pretty easy to pick out of this litter

64. Seafarer : TAR

65. Tropical getaway : ISLE

67. "__ takers?" : ANY

68. Some Fr. martyrs : STES

69. Relaxes : EASES

Down

1. Place for losers? : SPA

2. Scratch or dent : MAR

3. Little six-footer : ANT - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Yup, six of 'em!

4. Lower-APR deal : REFI

6. Far-reaching : BROAD

7. Govt. agents : FEDS

8. Bobbing wreckage : FLOTSAM - Sometimes that FLOTSAM is the result of a horrible event

9. Country W of Iraq : SYR

11. Make more toys? : BREED - Toy poodles for example

14. Wedding site : ALTAR

19. Ones on either side of a "v." : FOES - As in Brown v. The Board of Education

21. Conduits for gods' wisdom : ORACLES

23. South Pacific monarchy : TONGA

24. Ruin : SPOIL 

30. Minor peeve : NIT

34. Rock's __ Lobos : LOS - One hit wonders with La Bamba

37. Sacked out : SLEPT

41. CPR provider : EMT - Breathe, Fluffy, breathe!

44. Canopy support : BEDPOST - Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the BEDPOST overnight?

47. Apple MP3 player : IPOD

49. Anne Brontë's "__ Grey" : AGNES

50. Medicare card specification : PART A

51. Big name in online financial services : E-LOAN

52. "It's somebody __ problem" : ELSE'S - If you're not willing to, well, you know... 

56. Check out rudely : OGLE

57. Geometric figure : AREA

59. Towel word : HIS

61. Pulls a yard prank on, briefly : TPS - Industrial strength on Ellen with leaf blowers

62. Color nuance : HUE

63. College-level H.S. classes : APS

Now it's your turn to STEP UP to the keyboard and comment on Tony and C.C.'s just-right Wednesday puzzle:

Husker Gary



Notes from C.C.:

1) Fantastic Answer Grid, Gary! You're getting better and better.

1) As Gary mentioned earlier, this is Anon T's debut. Huge congratulations, Tony! So much fun working with him. Tony has one more puzzle in Rich's queue & one puzzle accepted by the WSJ.

  Anon T, Giza, Feb 2014

2) Happy Birthday to dear Barry G,  who joined this blog in 2008 and rarely misses a day of posting. Barry is one of my trusted test solvers and his feedback is essential in my development as a constructor. Barry, you need to send me a new picture. I've been using this one since Joshua was five. How time flies!